San Francisco Waldorf School

About San Francisco Waldorf School

San Francisco Waldorf School (SFWS) is an independent school located in San Francisco, dedicated to transformative education. The school aims to nurture free, resilient, and creative individuals who lead purposeful lives. At the core of SFWS is an innovative, humanistic approach to learning that has been practised for over a century and is taught in more than 1,100 schools worldwide.

Situation

SFWS approached 9ine to evaluate the adequacy of their system security. Mitch Mitchell explained, “We wanted to ensure that our network was protected and secure, and wanted a third party to conduct an audit of the system.” The need for an external audit became apparent after a cloud services provider used by the school suffered an intrusion and data ransom. This incident underscored the necessity of securing their own system against potential malicious attacks.

Solution

The primary goal for SFWS was to secure their network and gain a deeper understanding of potential attack vectors. 9ine’s audits helped the school visualise where vulnerabilities existed within their systems, enabling them to work on patching these weaknesses and reducing the risk of data breaches or system compromises.

SFWS faced challenges with internal IT expertise, relying on an external IT vendor to maintain their network. Mitchell noted, “With the addition of 9ine, we have now been able to have someone that serves that need for the school.” 9ine’s services effectively acted as an in-house IT expert, providing the school with critical insights into their vulnerabilities and guidance on protecting against cyber attacks.

9ine’s Cyber Vulnerability & Penetration Testing offers an overview of the school’s risk profile regarding cyber attacks. By following 9ine’s education vulnerability framework, they identified vulnerabilities and conducted penetration testing to evaluate the school’s defences. The resulting report provided a prioritised list of security recommendations, next steps, and actions.

SFWS subscribed to 9ine’s Cyber Vulnerability Essentials service, which includes a Cyber Vulnerability Assessment every three months. This structured timeline helped the school stay fully aware of their vulnerabilities. Mitchell remarked, “We now feel more comfortable with our security setup. There were significant issues found in the first few scans, and now we know where the work remains.”

Results 

Working with experts who previously let them down had made SFWS wary of trusting external IT vendors. Mitchell shared, “Before our first scan, we trusted our external IT experts to make sure that our system was secure. When we engaged 9ine, their initial scan uncovered significant vulnerabilities within the network that we then had to focus on addressing. We now feel we’re headed in the right direction.”

SFWS transformed their cybersecurity posture from having an insufficient view of vulnerabilities to establishing a structured auditing schedule with 9ine. Mitchell described the change as “night and day.” The school now has a clear understanding of their security gaps and a plan to address them.

“It has been a true pleasure working with 9ine over the past year. We engaged them in an ongoing contract to continue providing security auditing services, and our IT vendor has also appreciated the extra set of eyes on their work,” Mitchell stated.

Mitchell concluded with a crucial piece of advice: “Even if you think your system is secure, 9ine is how you can trust and verify that it is truly free from vulnerabilities.” Through their partnership with 9ine, SFWS has significantly strengthened their cybersecurity measures, ensuring a safer environment for their community.

www.sfwaldorf.org 
www.9ine.com